Amazon Prime is the only streaming service with a cost that also gets you free shipping, and that my friends is a deal. They’ve recently gotten into the Original programming game, but their biggest offering remains the ton of films available to watch anytime for Prime members.
The complete list of titles hitting Amazon Prime this month — April 2018 — is below, but first I’m going to shower some affection and point some eyeballs towards a few specific titles.
Prime Pick of the Month
The Replacements(2000) doesn’t get mentioned enough on lists of great sports films or underdog movies, or maybe it does. I don’t know. I don’t read lists. (I do write them though.) For my money it’s a fun, mildly suspenseful football tale that sits somewhere between the passable Necessary Roughness and the brilliance of Lucas. Keanu Reeves is having a blast, Gene Hackman is a god, and Brooke Langton is all kinds of lovely.
The Crime-Filled 80s & 90s
The 70s remains the best decade for cop cinema, but there are plenty of gems to be found in the years that followed. John Frankenheimer’s 52 Pick-Up (1986) puts the always great Roy Scheider front and center of this Elmore Leonard adaptation, and while it’s no Get Shorty it remains a sharply written tale of morality run amok. Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992) is less interested in wit or nuanced darkness and instead cuts straight to the salacious thrills. It’s even funnier than you remember. Internal Affairs (1990), meanwhile, pairs a dirty cop played by a dirty Richard Gere against a rare lead turn by Andy Garcia, and the two talents create fireworks (with a little help from Nancy Travis).
New and Critically Acclaimed
One of last year’s best films, Sean Baker’s The Florida Project (2017), lands on the 6th and is worth a watch for fans of nice things. A beautifully affecting turn by Willem Dafoe adds the joy. If you’re looking for something even newer, Spike Lee makes a critically acclaimed return with the Amazon Original Pass Over (2018) which hits on the 20th. Also new from last year, The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) brings its own fresh hell to Prime on the 5th with its darkly twisted morality tale.
The One I Was Alone In Liking at Sundance 2017
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (2017) was laughed out of last year’s Sundance Film Festival for its heavy-handed themes and overly serious tone, but the damn thing works for me well enough. Logan Lerman is good in the lead role and more than enough reason to watch, but it also works as a critique of both arrogance and the deification of artists. The supporting characters think he’s above reproach, but the film knows better.
The Complete List
April 1st
30 Beats (2012) 52 Pick-Up (1986) Basic Instinct (1992) The Big Wedding (2013) Brooklyn’s Finest (2009) Carrie (1976) The Conspirator (2011) Danny Roane: First Time Director (2007) Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) The Dogs of War (1981) Drugstore Cowboy (1989) Escape from New York (1981) Eye for An Eye (1996) Flashback (1990) The Foot Fist Way (2008) For a Few Dollars More (1967) Fred 3: Camp Fred (2012) Fred: Night of the Living Fred (2011) Fred: The Movie (2010) Friday the 13th (1980) Funny About Love (1990) Gamer (2009) Hangman (2017) Hellbenders 3-D (2012) Internal Affairs (1990) The Karate Kid (1984) Kickboxer (1989) The King of Comedy (1982) Ladybugs (1992) Life Stinks (1991) The Man in the Moon (1991) Marathon Man (1976) The Marc Pease Experience (2009) Married to the Mob (1988) Meatballs (1979) Miami Blues (1990) Mystery Team (2009) Mystic River (2003) Paranormal Activity (2007) The Phantom (1996) Philadelphia (1993) Prancer (1989) Project Nim (2011) Quigley Down Under (1990) The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) Red State (2012) The Replacements (2000) Salsa (1988) Shanghai Surprise (1986) She’s Having a Baby (1988) A Simple Plan (1998) Sleepers (1996) Small Soldiers (1998) Snake Eyes (1998) Spaceballs (1987) Stand Up Guys (2012) Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002) Steel Magnolias (1989) Superstar (1999) Tenderness (2009) Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (1986) The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) Throw Momma from the Train (1987) Trading Mom (1994) Troy (2004) Up in Smoke (1978) Uptown Girls (2003) Warpath (1951) Wayne’s World 2 (1993) The Winning Season (2010) Wishmaster (1997) Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999) Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001) Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled (2002)
Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.